The Clinical Tools section of the Genetic Counseling Cultural Competence Toolkit
includes an array of resources to enhance clinical practice. The tips from genetic counselors document
includes helpful pointers learned from the rich experiences of our colleagues. We included cultural and
spiritual assessment tools, cultural immersion activities, and information about complementary and alternative
medicine. We provide links and additional information about the recent Institute of Medicine report on collecting
race, ethnicity, and language data from your clients. For the benefit of genetic counselors and students who
learn best by demonstrations, we included links to videos and webinars for enhancing specific clinical skills
such as in patient interviewing.

We suggest that you begin this section by taking the
self-assessment test, developed by Tawara D. Goode, National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and
Human Development.

Organizational Cultural Competence

The Organizational Cultural Competence section takes a global look at the environment in which genetic
counselors work. Be it your hospital, the specialty clinic you staff, the genetic testing company where you
work, or the graduate training program where you are enrolled, genetic counselors are a part of a larger working
environment, which impacts our interactions with our clients. Does your hospital have welcoming signage in
the languages spoken by people in the community? Do you offer flexible clinic times to accommodate people
who cannot attend daytime appointments due to work obligations? Does your center have outreach clinics close
to home to reach underserved clients? Is the hospital easy to get to by public transportation? Do you have staff
that reflects the demography of the city? This are questions to consider as part of the exercise of exploring
organizational cultural competence.

The NSGC is taking a leadership role for the genetic counseling profession by initiating the process of
organizational cultural competence. The recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors
Organizational Cultural Competence Task Force of September 17, 2009 are cited below. The recommendations
include “a framework for organizational cultural competence, a plan for ongoing education in cross cultural competence
on NSGC members, volunteers and staff, including implementation timelines, and performance measures for evaluation
progress toward desired cultural competency outcomes and a timeline for evaluation.” The areas of concentration fall
under the following categories: ‘leadership; membership diversity and training; data collection, public accountability, and
quality improvement; integration into management systems and operations; and community engagement.” Every genetic
counselor should take time to review the NSGC recommendations and consider how to support the NSGC’s initiative by
providing feedback and playing a role in implementing proposed actions. When you review the document, you will note that
the NSGC Task Force adapted a National Quality Forum-endorsed framework for its organizational cultural competence
initiative. There are many frameworks that could be used. We have provided several templates and model initiatives to
help genetic counselors evaluate their working environment for responsiveness to the culturally and linguistically diverse
clients and communities they serve.

Disclaimer
The purpose of the Genetic Counseling Cultural Competence Toolkit (GCCCT) is to improve the delivery of culturally responsive, client-centered genetic counseling to diverse populations and to reduce health disparities. The GCCCT is an educational resource; any suggestions do not define the standards of clinical or educational practice. All cases and scenarios are hypothetical. The JEMF, NSGC and Nancy Steinberg Warren, MS, CGC will not be liable for any medical or psychosocial applications connected with the use of or reliance upon any information obtained from this website or associated links and resources.